That's one of the remarkable
things and precious things about this story of Ruth is that it's
a story of growing intimacy. There is, for the people of God
in their relationship with the Lord Jesus, there is an intimacy,
there is a communion, there is a oneness of spirit and a oneness
in life as He does as He has promised, to come to His people,
to take them to Himself, to reveal His covenant love and mercy to
them. I love how Munayami in Chapter
2, verse 19, described Him, She says, where have you gleaned
today and where did you work, where did you rot? And then she
says, blessed be he that did take knowledge of thee. Blessed be he that did take knowledge
of thee. And then Naomi causes Ruth to
reveal who the kinsman redeemer is. And she gleaned until the
end of the barley harvest and the end of the wheat harvest
and she dwelt with her mother-in-law. And Naomi's desire, Naomi is
a picture of course in many ways of the church, it was Naomi that
brought the message of the Lord Jesus, the message of the Gospel
to Ruth in the land of Moab. And it was the work of God in
the life of Naomi that caused Ruth to make that famous statement. She says, don't ask me to leave
and I want to follow after you and where you go, there I will
go. And where you lodge, I will lodge,
and thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God." That confession
came because Naomi had been the bearer of that news and they
were heading off back because Naomi had heard that the Lord
had visited his people. in giving them bread. And so
now she says, my daughter, verse 1, she said, Shall I not seek
rest for thee, that it may be well with me? It's a reference,
of course, to marriage, but the rest of God's people is to rest
in the Lord Jesus. It's the rest of faith. Hebrews 4, verses 2 and 3 make
it so clear that the rest of God's people is a rest where
we just simply find ourselves at peace in His arms, in His
sovereignty. The Word of God was preached
to those ones that fell in the desert, but not being mixed with
faith, it didn't profit them. For we, verse 3, which have believed,
enter into rest. Entering into rest is faith and
in this picture of Ruth we see this woman who had been married
and been a male by death and had been through all of these
things and she was no young girl, but she acts the part in so many
extraordinary ways as someone who has simple childlike faith. And Ruth hears these words, isn't
it? See, the rest of God's people
is more than just a notion. It's more than just some theory,
it's the intimate personal faith that God's people have with Him. He is our Sabbath rest and His
rest, according to Isaiah 11, His rest is glorious. Isaiah speaks of those Israelites
who wouldn't rest, isn't it? In returning and rest shall you
be saved. In quietness and confidence shall
be your strength. And remarkably, the Israelites,
as all reprobates do, they would not. They would not. The witnessing of the Church
is the witnessing of where He is and who He is, who Christ
is, and where our rest is found. God's children rest because all
of their works are done. Christ has fulfilled the law
for us. We have a righteousness before
God that God finds perfectly satisfying. So God's children
rest where God the Father finds His rest and His peace. And the
Lord Jesus says, Matthew 11 says, He says, Come unto me all you
who labour and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. A rest
on the rest of our hearts, a rest of our entire being upon Him. A rest now and a rest into eternity. I love reading Mr Hawker's evening
and morning portions. You can get them on the internet
from Grace Ebooks. It's worth having them and having
them played to you or listening to them. I love the way Robert
Hawker keeps talking intimately about his soul's relationship. He keeps going and going and
says, mark my soul the character of God's Israel. Remember that
they are the same in all ages. I can read the one for this morning.
What a morning this will be, he says, he's speaking out of
Daniel 12, where it says, many will sleep in the dust and the
earth shall awake, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting
contempt. What a morning will this be,
how distinguished from every other. Lord, how often do I now
awake with thoughts of earth and sin and trifles and vanity. How have I opened mine eyes this
morning, was it dearest Jesus, with thoughts of Thee? In that
solemn morning there will be no longer dreams as now, even
in our waking hours, for all childish imaginations, shadows,
doubts and fears will be done away. Precious blessed Lord Jesus,
cause me, morning by morning, while upon earth, to awaken with
sweet thoughts of Thee. Let the close of night and the
opening of day be with Thy dear name in my heart, on my thoughts
and on my lips, and in that everlasting morning, after having dropped
to sleep in Jesus and in Thy arms by faith, may I awake, up
in Thy embraces and after Thy likeness and be everlastingly
and eternally satisfied with Thee." Sweet thoughts. Sweet thoughts of an intimate
and real communion. That's the rest that Naomi is
seeking for Ruth and the rest is found in just one, isn't it? witnessing to people is to tell
them who the Lord Jesus is, and where He is to be found, and
what He is doing. Verse 2, And now is not Boaz
of our kindred with whose maiden thou wast? We tell, don't we,
the Church tells needy sinners of where the kinsman-redeemer
is, where the rest is. And where will he be found? He'll
be found at his threshing floor. He's to be found, behold, in
Wynnumworth, Bali, tonight. in the threshing floor. The harvest
is in for that time. So winnowing time is also a time
when covenant love is revealed. We tell people, we tell needy
sinners where Christ is to be found. He's found in His church. He's found upon His throne. He
is found winnowing. What did John the Baptist say
of him? He said, his fan is in his hand and he will thoroughly
purge his floor and gather his wheat into his garner, but he
will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. We tell people, don't we,
that our great Redeemer, our great God, is sovereignly winnowing
this world and he winnows this world through the preaching of
the Gospel. amongst his people. He's to be
found in his church. He's to be found sitting at God's
right hand. He's going to be found always
by God's people. He's always going to be found
high and lifted up. That's what he's doing. He is
sovereign. He is the great and the mighty
ruler of the harvest. It is his to gather the wheat
into his barn, it is his to remove the chaff. And so, when needy
sinners are needing to come to Him. They come, as Naomi instructs
Ruth in verse 3. Wash thyself therefore and anoint
thee, and put thy raiment upon thee. They're pictures of repentance,
aren't they? Isaiah chapter 1 verse 16 says,
Wash you and make you clean, and put away the evil of your
doings from before mine eyes, and cease to do evil. You put,
you wash yourself, you anoint yourself, you put your raiment
on you, and what do you do? Needy sinners, made to be needy
by God, they get thee down. Needy sinners, coming in repentance,
they get themselves down. They are made to be lower and
lower and lower in their own estimation. They have to be removed
from their throne, the throne that we inherited from our father
Adam. I love that verse from Jeremiah,
in Jeremiah 31, which is a great passage that speaks of God's
eternal covenant with His people. And in 31.3 is that amazing verse,
isn't it? Yea, I have loved thee with an
everlasting love, therefore with loving kindness have I drawn
thee. He draws them with loving kindness. And how do they come? He brings them from a north country,
gathers them from the coast of the earth, verse 8, and with
them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her
that travaileth with child together, a great company shall return
here. They shall come with weeping and with supplications. Will
I lead them? I will cause them to walk by
rivers of waters in a straight way wherein they shall not stumble. For I am a father to Israel. He speaks of that new covenant,
doesn't he? That eternal covenant that days
will come. And they'll all know Him, from
the least of them to the greatest, saith the Lord, for I will forgive
their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more. He'll bring
them down. He'll bring them down and they
will come down. They will be brought down to
a place where they can meet with Him. Meet with Him who is grace
and mercy itself. and make not Thyself known unto
the man until he shall have done eating and drinking." So she,
this was on a rise, probably the threshing floor was on a
rise, so she could have stayed some distance away and she could
have watched them and watched Boaz until it got darker and
darker, until she knew exactly where he was resting in her sleep. Beside, they often slept out
in the open, beside the grain. Here he was beside the grain.
Often in India the most pleasant place to sleep was outside. I
remember coming home from long nights sometimes when we were
down on the plains and the most pleasant place of all was on
top of the house. You couldn't sleep in the houses
if the electricity wasn't going and the fans weren't turning.
But outside were these cool breezes and it was absolutely delightful. So there, that was the scene.
You shall mark the place where he is. You mark the place where
he shall lie. The Church tells needy sinners
that you mark the place where our God is. You mark the place
where He will deal in grace and mercy with His own. He says in
Isaiah 43, He says, I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions
for mine own sake, and I will not remember thy sins. And then
He says this remarkable thing, doesn't He? Put me in remembrance. Put me in remembrance. Let us
plead together. Declare thou that thou mayest
be justified. Put me in remembrance. You mark
the place where he shall lie, and then you shall go in, uncover
his feet, and lay down." It's a beautiful picture, isn't it?
You wait. You go to his place, you mark the place where he is,
and you wait. We tell people who Christ is. We tell people where He is to
be found and what He's doing. We tell people how they come
to Him. And then we tell people what
He is able to do for needy sinners. Listen to how Naomi describes
what He will do. And He will tell thee what thou
shalt do. That's the church's faith, isn't
it? He will tell you, she will wait until he speaks to her. She comes to him, but having
come, she waits. That's exactly what Paul was
told, wasn't it? The Lord Jesus met Paul in Acts chapter 9 and
the Lord said remarkably to Paul, and trembling and astonished,
Paul said, Lord, what will you have me to do? And the Lord said
unto him, Arise and go into the city, and it shall be told thee
what thou must do. It shall be told thee. He will
speak to his people. He will. That's the church's
confidence, isn't it? That he will speak to his people.
He will reveal what they shall do. He will reveal who they are. He will reveal who he is. And
here we have one of the first and most significant activities
of a repentant sinner on a way to a marriage with the Lord Jesus
Christ, the consummation of marriage. Now at this reply unto her, verse
five, all that thou sayest unto me, I will do. We were speaking earlier about
the fact that the Word of God is precious to God's people. And God's people are brought
in humble submission to find that His Word is the end. His Word is the beginning. His
Word is the end. She, Ruth, reveals again and
again, childlike faith, all that Thou sayest unto me, I will do." When Saul fell from that great
place that he had been placed, King Saul, Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great a delight
in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the
Lord? Behold, to obey is better than
sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion
is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity
and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the
word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king."
See Ruth is a mature woman, isn't she? She is a married woman. The Jews said that she might
have been 40 years old. She may well have been much younger
than that. But there she was every time
you see a picture of Ruth and hear anything from her all through
this book. She is just perfectly obedient. She doesn't argue with God at
all. She comes in humility. She comes as a needy sinner. and she comes just humbly trusting
the Word of God. Oh, if the Lord would grant us
just simply to know His Word and simply to have childlike
faith in it, there is great rest and peace in a troubled world
just simply being a Ruth. Whatever you say, I'll do. Verse 6. And she went down under
the floor, and did according to all that her mother-in-law
bade her. And when Boaz had eaten and drunk,
and his heart was merry. It doesn't mean that he was drunk,
I think he was just, it seems in the original it's just describing
the fact that at harvest time for farmers is a time of rejoicing. He went to lie down at the end
of the heap of corn, And she came softly and uncovered his
feet and laid her down." It's a beautiful picture, isn't it,
of the place where God's children in need find themselves in the
place of extraordinary blessing. You come and you lie down at
His feet and you wait. And it came to pass, verse 8,
at midnight that the man was afraid and turned himself and
behold, a woman lay at his feet. And he said, who art thou? Who are you? What a great question
from the kinsman redeemer. Who are you? Who are you? It's a good question to think
about, isn't it? Our natural fleshly desire is for us to think
that we are something. Think that we are something and
always something much more than we really are. But this is a
question from the kinsman redeemer to the hearts of his people,
isn't it? Who art thou? And she answered, I am Ruth. I am Ruth, I'm the Moabites,
I am from that cursed race. I am, but I'm something else. She says, I am thine, I belong
to you, my life is in your hands, I am your servant. This is her
prayer, isn't it? It's a beautiful prayer. I am
thine handmaiden, I am your servant, he who had taken knowledge of
her, he who had shown such remarkable mercy and grace to her, he who
had told her to come to his field and to glean in his field and
to stay with his people and to be protected under the care of
his hand and to be fed and watered by his servants. She comes. That's why she says,
therefore, doesn't she? She says, spread therefore. On the basis of who you are,
on the basis of you being a kinsman redeemer, on the basis of all
that you have witnessed of your care for me, Therefore I come."
God's children come to Him on the basis of a therefore. The
therefore of who He is. He doesn't change. Who He is
to His people who come to Him. She is effectively saying, spread
therefore thy skirt over thy handmaid, for thou art a near
kinsman. She's really saying, you are
my kinsman redeemer, take me to be your wife. It is. The Lord recompense thy
work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel,
under whose wings thou art come to rest. signifies wings as well. You
might remember the story in Ezekiel 16, the remarkable story of the
picture of the Lord and His covenant dealings with His people, and
this child lay out in the wilderness, unwashed, and dead, and when
I passed by thee, I saw thee polluted in thine own blood,
Ezekiel 16.6, I said unto thee, When thou wast in thy blood,
live, yea, I said unto thee, When thou wast in thy blood,
live, and I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the
field, and thou hast increased and waxen great, thou art come
to excellent ornaments. He goes on to say, And now, verse
8, when I passed by thee, and looked upon Thee, behold, Thy
time was the time of love. And I spread my skirt over Thee,
and covered Thy nakedness, yea, and I swear unto Thee, and entered
into a covenant with Thee, saith the Lord God, and Thou becamest
mine. That's a beautiful picture, isn't
it? That's why she uncovered his feet, so that the corner
of his cloak could be put over her, that outer garment that
he wore. Spread therefore thy skirt over
thine handmaiden, take me to be yours. for thou art a near
kinsman." She comes on the basis of simple trusting obedience
to Naomi's instructions. And also she comes because thou
art a near kinsman. God's word declares that he is
a kinsman and as a near kinsman he has the real chance. and he has the willingness and
the ability to redeem her. She declares that she is in his
hands. He is the one with the right
to redeem her. And he said, Blessed be thou
of the Lord, my daughter, for thou hast showed more kindness
in the latter end than at the beginning. This is now a greater
act of kindness than the kindness she'd shown in coming back to
Naomi and caring for her and gleaning in his fields In obedience
to His command, all of that time of the harvest, and now the harvest
is over, and it's time for the marriage to be brought on. At the latter end and the beginning,
You've shown more kindness, inasmuch as Thou followest not young men,
whether rich or poor. She had, it seems, some attractiveness,
and with the way things were in those times, she had the opportunity
to have other men. She'd actually kept herself virtuous,
as he goes on to say. She kept herself for him. And now, my daughter, fear not.
This is the great word of our God, isn't it? I will do to thee
all that thou requirest. What an amazing word from our
God. I will do to thee all that thou
requirest, all that thou need, all that thou need, all that
needs to be done to make you mine I will do. For all the city
of my people know, doth know that thou art a virtuous woman. You see, in our kinsman-redeemer
there is absolutely no reluctance when it comes to him entering
into his obligations to redeem his own. He does it, as Hebrews
12 says, with the joy that was set before him. Grace. Grace makes a Mahabhites a virtuous
woman. We are made so by the grace of
God. The grace of God makes God's
people virtuous. The unrighteous shall not inherit
the kingdom of God, says God in 1 Corinthians 6.9. Be not deceived, neither fornicators,
nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of
themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards,
nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of
God. And what does he go on to say? And such were some of you. But you, like Ruth, are washed
but ye are sanctified, ye are justified in the name of the
Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. You are washed, you
are sanctified, you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus.
We are God's children, we are the possessors of a new creation. The old has passed away and the
new has come. And in the newness of that relationship
there is this intimacy that I was talking about before. The reality
of salvation is part of it is being brought into the intimacy
of union and communion and fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. That
you might know Him. To know him is to know him as
a kinsman redeemer. To know him is to know him who
is at his threshing floor and winnowing his grain. To know
him is to know him who is a sovereign ruler over all things in this
world. But also to know him. To know him is to know him as
Ruth knows him, where you can come and lie yourself down at
his feet. like Mary did, and like that
other lady that came into that Pharisee's house, and she lay
down at his feet, and she wept at his feet with the tears, and
she poured ointment on his feet. See, at his feet, we are dependent
entirely upon him. And like Ruth came, came In the dead of night there was,
in that night, this beautiful intimate scene between these
two. It's wonderful to think, isn't
it, that as we are reading and describing these things, they
were a real event in the lives of these real people, weren't
they? Ruth and Boris. have been in the presence of
our Lord Jesus Christ for over 3,000 years. According to the
Word of God, Ruth and Boaz are bearing witness at this very
moment to us. enjoying the joy that they have
in the presence of our God because of His covenant love and drawing
His people to Himself, but drawing them in such a way that they
find Him the place and the person of rest in this troubled world. Let's pray.